Picture Of The Day: Enter the dragon dancers

Rob Hastings

Rob Hastings is Assistant News Editor at The Independent. He has served on the news desk since 2010. While working as a freelance reporter and feature writer he was also published by The Guardian, The Times and the Financial Times.

Beijing's three-day celebrations for the Duanwu festival, also known as the Dragon Boat Festival for the vessels that are raced to mark the occasion, began to blossom yesterday as dancers took to the stage dressed as flowers for the opening ceremony.

The festival marks the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, when in 277BC the patriotic poet Qu Yuan is said to have committed suicide by drowning. The tradition of racing boats decorated as dragons is dedicated to the efforts made to save him. Duanwu has been an official public holiday in mainland China since 2008 and is marked by Chinese citizens across the world.